I haven’t written in a couple of weeks now.
Okay, I suppose that’s not entirely true. I wrote a sympathy card to Doug’s parents, and a much lamer entry into the guestbook we passed around at his memorial. I’ve written thank-yous to a number of people who made it possible for me to get to said memorial.
Still, all of that meant a break from the writing I really want to do, the long-form fiction. So what if the first novel has so far rated next to no interest from agents? It’s in the bag, and I can resume sending queries whenever. It will happen, sooner or later.
Meanwhile, the new ideas are scrabbling their ways around my head. I’ve done some work, knocked out a few early chapters, found myself exploring at least three of the main characters. Now they want more of my attention. They want to know what happens next, whether they’ll make it to the end or be killed off. Yeah, there will be some killing. The first time around, I thought love might be interesting to explore. Now I’ve got an idea that lends itself to a bit darker subject matter.
I won’t lie, I’m a little relieved at that. For one thing, I love that stuff. Everything’s more interesting with ghosts. Hell, it was all I could do not to put ghosts into Underneath It All. (Instead, I let the main characters “appear” as ghostly figures in each others’ memories, to snark on what they found there. It’s a nice effect, if I do say so myself, so… more incentive to resume the agent search.)
For another (and more mercenary) thing, supernatural sells right now. Easily half of the agent rejection letters I’ve received mention their focus shifting to supernatural romance, supernatural action, supernatural mystery… you see the pattern. Just look at the AbsoluteWrite.com forums. The folks often post cover captures of their published works, and if you can’t find a vampire or a scantily clad yet futuristic woman holding a sword, you’re not looking hard enough. I’m not knocking their efforts, but I am kicking myself for not going with my instincts and exploring the supernatural first.
Because, yes, selling a book is easier once you’ve sold a book. And selling a first novel is easier if it follows the current well-traveled path. And right now, that path involves, apparently, angst-ridden vampires who bed voluptuous librarians while solving crime. Something like that.
Rambling now. To those over the past few weeks who read the first chapter of Underneath It All and told me how much you liked it: Thank you! Here’s hoping we all see more of it soon. Heck, if it’s still unsold by Christmas, I’m inclined to post more online. In the meantime, I’ll be spending evenings and weekends on the new project.
